Another game against a ranked opponent, another loss for Mizzou football. What is it about this Missouri team that can’t get past tougher opponents?
Coming into their battle against the 12th-ranked Kentucky Wildcats, Mizzou football was a seven point favorite over the ranked Cats. It was a bit surprising considering the fact that Kentucky was ranked and that Missouri doesn’t fare well in those games.
Well, when push came to shove, Kentucky won the game on a last second touchdown pass by Terry Wilson. Missouri looked to be onto something in the second quarter when they scored two touchdowns, but that would be all the points the Tigers would muster up on Saturday.
Drew Lock finished the day going just 15 of 27 for 165 yards and continued to be underwhelming against tougher opponents. Lock was kept out of the end zone, but also didn’t throw any picks.
Man, you knew Kentucky was scoring with that untimed down. If you're a Mizzou fan, you knew, right? If not, you haven't paid attention.
— Tod Palmer (@todpalmer) October 27, 2018
This has been the norm for Lock and the Tigers during his tenure at Mizzou, as he lights up non-Power-5 schools, but can’t put up those same numbers against SEC foes or Power-5 foes in general.
Coming into this game, the Kentucky run game seemed to be the most daunting task for the Tigers, but the defense came through, holding the Wildcats to under 100 yards rushing. More impressively, Benny Snell was held to just 67 yards on the ground.
So, what happened? Well, once again, MU failed to put the game away. They were up 14-3 at half time and couldn’t get anything going offensively in the second half. Not only that, but the defense allowed Kentucky to put up 12 points in the fourth quarter and steal this game in the final seconds.
Sure, some will say the pass interference call was BS, but Missouri had chances to put this game and they failed to do so. Barry Odom continues to get out coached by everyone in the SEC and MU fans have every right to be frustrated by what happened on Saturday.
For Missouri fans, the loss seemed imminent. As Tod Palmer tweeted above, MU fans knew what was coming when Kentucky had one last shot to put the ball in the end zone and that scenario played out exactly how fans expected it to.
Moving forward, Missouri’s schedule does lighten up a bit (well, after next weekend), but it’ll be tough for the Tigers to bounce back from this loss. They had a conference win in their hands and let it slip away. Missouri has still yet to notch a conference win this season and it’s been a very discouraging campaign to say the least.
I mentioned the schedule lightens up a bit, but not next week, as the Tigers have to travel to Gainesville for a game against the ranked Florida Gators. Florida just got pummeled by Georgia, so they’ll be out for blood next week against a very vulnerable Tigers team.
Coming into the season, there were expectations for Mizzou football. Drew Lock was a potential Heisman candidate and it seemed like maybe, just maybe, the Tigers would get back to the team they once were in their early SEC days. That has not been the case.
With just four games left in the season, MU can still make a bowl game, but sitting at 5-3 rather than 4-4 would have been a much easier pill for fans to swallow. Now the Tigers are 4-4 and get Florida on the road next weekend.
Will Lock and company be able to shed the label of choking against tough teams? They have one more chance to try doing just that against the ranked Gators in Gainesville next weekend.